Four people who were held hostage at a synagogue in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, have been freed unharmed after a 10-hour stand-off with police.

They were taken hostage during a morning service in Colleyville on Saturday.

Police deployed special weapons teams, while FBI negotiators spent hours talking to the assailant.

Explosions and gunfire could be heard before the incident ended. The hostage-taker has since died, police say.

The four people taken hostage included the synagogue’s rabbi, according to US media reports.